Tag: blog

From the ashes

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Binding Light 14”x11” acrylic on wood panel

I destroyed half a dozen paintings I decided not to put into my solo show. I like to let paintings breathe for a while and see them fresh. So often you feel an energy and excitement from work, that usually fades. If a painting doesn’t intrigue me after hanging around the studio for weeks it is probably not worth keeping. Sometimes I will deeply love elements of a piece but it has to be compelling as a whole. Once in a while a painting just needs a little extra work to bring it all together. Sometimes that little extra is the final blow…

So I destroyed a painting, this is the new painting on the same panel. Now I can’t remember for sure what was originally on this board but I know this is stronger. Will it stick around? Time will tell.

New Start

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Mystic Distance 12”x16” acrylic on wood panel

I have shipped all of my recent work to Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento. Now I am making a new start! I have some commissions I need to work on, those start next week. I will take the remainder of this week just to paint.

Time erodes everything, painting offers occasional moments of ascent.

The world is a light box

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Winter Light 20”x24” acrylic on wood panel

A photograph of me holding my painting “winter light”. Yesterday the sky was a bright grey, the ground white, and I was standing in a giant light box!

This painting and the final collection will be heading to California today. Ready for my solo show at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California!

Elliott Fouts Gallery!

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized

I have a solo exhibit at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, Ca. The show takes place February 2nd through February 28th.

I have around 23 finished paintings that I have chosen for the show. Now I need to get the work there! I had considered flying down with a couple giant travel cases but decided it would be more cost effective to ship the paintings over a couple weeks time. So this week I will be packing and shipping like a maniac!

If anyone is in the greater Sacramento area I hope you will check out the show! There is a reception February 9th!

Taking another look…

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Down the River 20”x16” acrylic painting

I revisited a painting from late 2018 that I wasn’t entirely satisfied with. I am gathering paintings for my February solo show making hard decisions. This particular piece was on the edge but now it will be attending the exhibit! The show is at the Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California.

Epic

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Weight 30”x24” acrylic paint on wood panel

I have a number of 30″x24″ panels primed for painting, I love working at this scale. Large enough that you have a sense of freedom moving around the surface but not so large that it is awkward in the studio. I did have to stand on a chair to get far enough away for a photo, so a little awkward!

I am pretty obsessed with brooding epic scenes. I keep getting wound up about new ideas but I realize this is a common thread.

Job to do (prepping for my solo show)

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Pend Oreille acrylic on wood panel

Today I will be varnishing and photographing much of my work. As eager as I am to paint I have a looming deadline for my show solo show at Elliott Fouts Gallery in Sacramento, California. The show is the month of February so I need to get my work photographed, varnished, framed, packaged and shipped very soon! Deadlines keep me running!

2019

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Blue and Far 30”x24” paint on wood panel

I have never been an optimistic person. In grade school, learning vocabulary, the teacher asked us if we were optimists or pessimists. A girl I had eyes for said, “Oh, we are both optimists.” She was a bit smarter than I was, but as she explained the difference, I knew she was horribly mistaken.

For some odd reason, I am filled with an unrealistic optimism for the new year. I am making my living painting, it’s not easy. My days are only getting shorter, never mind. I have a vision for my work, mastery of my materials. For the first time in my life I know my greatest work is ahead. I am excited to make it.

I hope you all find passion and meaning in 2019.

Ghost in the Studio

by Brian Sostrom, posted in Uncategorized
Head of Thunder 18”x24” paint on wood panel

It struck me when I walked into my studio this morning that my current painting feels very much like a ghost. I have it on my table easel and it seems to hover on the table.

This painting is almost a study in subtlety. The color and values easing into one another. This kind of painting seems difficult to capture digitally but for now here is an iPhone version.